


A Lion and a Bear from the Maiden Fair

by brienne_lannister_of_tarth



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Cersei Being Her Usual Self, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 01:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3272267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brienne_lannister_of_tarth/pseuds/brienne_lannister_of_tarth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaime only wants to find out who his Secret Santa is. He might find more than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lion and a Bear from the Maiden Fair

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a prompt for JBHoliday on tumblr by via14lol.

On the last day of work before Christmas, Jaime arrived at the office complex owned by his family looking forward to one more day of routine and unexciting things before the madness of the holidays would be upon him. He was not a big fan of Christmas. For him, it was only another day of the year on which he would be confronted with his family...he saw them way too often as things were, and on Christmas, when drinking was involved (especially concerning his siblings), there was even more shouting than usual. He was definitely not looking forward to all of that.

While he was on the way to his office, he noticed some of the employees placing presents on the desks of their co-workers. The Secret Santa thing was obviously still going on. He himself had refused to partake in that activity – he had never liked Christmas, and how should he come up with a present for a person he hardly knew when finding things his family might like was a dreaded challenge for him every year? He had politely refused being involved.

So the last thing he expected to see when entering his office was a present on his desk – yet there was one, wrapped in red paper decorated with snowflake patterns. He frowned. Had he not made it clear enough that he was REALLY not a fan of Christmas? He shook his head in disbelief and was tempted to throw it away...until he saw the card attached to it. It read, “Dear Mr Lannister, I know you don't like Christmas but I hope this will make you smile nonetheless.” There wasn't a signature. He studied the card again, trying to find out if the person who had written it was male or female, but it was impossible to tell.

Looking at the present again, he noticed – and that annoyed him a bit – that he was getting curious. What might be in there? Of course, there was only one way to find out. He started unwrapping it and a few seconds later, two small stuffed toys were sitting on his desk: a bear, wearing a blue shirt, and a lion, wearing a red shirt. Both shirts displayed embroidered sigils. Jaime could easily recognize the Lannister lion on the red shirt, but he had no clue about the other sigil. It was red and blue, and there were suns and moons. The card had said it might make him smile, but he didn't understand why. 

He started thinking about the office staff and tried to figure out if anyone of them could be responsible for this present. The only person he could imagine still liking stuffed toys was Gilly, the girlfriend of his brother's driver Samwell Tarly, who worked at the information desk. The only problem was that Gilly was completely intimidated by him and tried to hide whenever he was near. She would never have been bold enough to give him a present when she knew he didn't want one. The names and faces of other employees appeared before his eyes...Sandor Clegane, Jon Snow, Theon Greyjoy, Varys, Petyr Baelish, Sansa Stark, Ygritte...but he knew it couldn't have been one of them. 

But maybe the sigil was a good starting point. He decided to check if his brother was already there and, for once, not hungover. Maybe Tyrion could tell him more about the sigil; he knew a lot about these things. On the way to Tyrion's office, however, Jaime saw his sister Cersei coming out of her office, accompanied by that tall blonde woman who always wore suits and who had been working for the company for two months now. Jaime tried to remember her name...something beginning with “T”...

Then he heard Cersei addressing the other woman. “I hope you keep in mind what I just told you, Miss Tarth,” his sister said, and Jaime immediately recognised that certain tone in her voice she only used when she didn't like the person she was talking to.

The tall blonde seemed to feel really uncomfortable in Cersei's presence. Her gaze was fixed to the floor. “Yes, Mrs Baratheon,” was her answer, but Jaime hardly heard it because she was so quiet, as if afraid to speak up. 

“Good,” Cersei said. When she noticed Jaime, she grinned at him triumphantly and went back into her office. 

Miss Tarth had also noticed Jaime now. She looked at him, clearly terrified that he had witnessed that small part of her conversation with Cersei. Jaime noticed that her eyes were red; he hoped she hadn't cried too much while Cersei had talked to hear. He knew his sister; she didn't show any signs of mercy or compassion when confronted with displays of weakness, but felt provoked to be even meaner than usual.

He decided to address the woman. “Are you all right, Tarth?” he asked. 

“Yes, sir. I'm fine,” she answered, but he didn't believe her. She seemed to be fighting back more tears, and her hands were slightly shaking. Whatever Cersei had said had obviously upset her. She had never looked more miserable.

Jaime decided to see Tyrion later; there were more important things right now. “Come on, Tarth, follow me!” He turned around and walked back to his office. After having taken a few steps, he looked back, only to see that she was not following him. She still stood there, frozen to the spot, looking terrified. Jaime smiled at her in a way he hoped was reassuring and said, “I promise I won't yell at you. I believe you've had enough of that already.” He could see in her eyes that she still had doubts about his intentions, but she finally followed him to his office.

Having arrived there, he told Miss Tarth to sit down. She did so, but reluctantly. She looked like a frightened young girl, and Jaime asked himself how old she might be. He had to admit that he didn't know a lot about her. He knew that she was working very hard and was good at her job. Tyrion had also told him that the other employees liked her because she was always polite and willing to help. Even his father seemed to have recognized her skills. 

But that was about it. Nobody knew anything about her private life. She never let anyone come too close to her. Jaime had observed her behaviour towards her colleagues a few times and wondered if this was some sort of self-protecting mechanism. He suspected that people had been cruel to her in the past, but he didn't know for sure.

Speaking of cruel...that brought him back to the matter at hand. “What did my sister want from you?” he asked her. She still looked scared. “Don't worry, I know what Cersei is like. You can tell me. I promise there won't be any consequences for you.” 

“Well, sir...” Miss Tarth began, “it started with the photocopies I had to make for her yesterday. Apparently I used the wrong paper. She needed five minutes to yell at me because I didn't pay attention to her instructions...and she told me she had people fired for less than this. The other fifteen minutes...” She interrupted herself and swallowed hard, and Jaime saw a tear rolling down her left cheek. 

“The other fifteen minutes she told me how ugly and masculine I looked, and that I was a disgrace to the whole female population of the planet and should be ashamed of myself...and how ashamed my father must feel when looking at me...she used a lot more words than these, but...” 

Jaime understood. It was impossible for her to tell him about every single insult she had received from his sister. He was at a loss of what to say. He wanted to tell her how sorry he felt, wanted to comfort her...but he didn't know how. Not for the first time, he silently blamed his father for his terrible childhood resulting in his lack of social skills, and he cursed his sister for her lack of tact. 

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he finally asked, not knowing what else to say. 

“No, sir...I just need a little bit of time...but I will be okay. I've heard much worse things.” 

Jaime wasn't exactly surprised; he had suspected as much. But that didn't mean he wasn't shocked...and he also felt a little heart-broken for the matter-of-fact tone in which Miss Tarth had just said that...like it was a normal thing for her to be bullied and insulted on a regular basis.

Desperately looking for a way to distract her, his gaze fell on something embroidered on her jacket. He took a closer look and was surprised to recognise the sigil that also decorated the shirt of the stuffed bear he had received. “Tarth, can you tell me what that sigil is?” he asked her. 

She looked confused at first, but then she understood what he meant. “The one on my jacket? That's the sigil of my family.” 

“So you have been my Secret Santa?” Miss Tarth didn't reply, but she was blushing, and Jaime found that somehow endearing. Now he knew for certain that it had been her. “May I ask you something?” he continued. 

“Of course, sir...what would you like to know?” 

“If you knew that I didn't like Christmas, why did you still decide to give me something? And why this present in particular?” 

Miss Tarth blushed again as she answered, “I've had them for a while now...I just never found the right moment to give them to you. I've heard your brother say that you didn't like Christmas, but I told myself that it was now or never...and as for my choice of presents...well...do you remember the evening you talked to me for the first time?” 

Jaime tried to remember, but he didn't have a clue and admitted as much. Miss Tarth smiled, but it was a sad smile, and continued, “I thought so...it was the last staff party. They were playing 'The Bear and the Maiden Fair'. You were looking at me – it was the first time you really noticed me, I think – and said that I was definitely the bear in that song...” 

“...and YOU said that I reminded you of a lion, but you could also see me as a maiden fair! I remember now!” Jaime exclaimed, grinning. “That was a nice comeback there. I'm sorry, by the way. I guess I behaved a bit like an idiot.” 

“At least you were laughing more about my answer than about me,” she answered. “Other guys would probably have felt offended.”

“Listen, Tarth...” 

“Brienne.” 

“What?” 

“My name. It's Brienne.” Brienne. Jaime liked that name. 

“Do you have plans for Christmas, Brienne?” he asked. 

“Nothing in particular, no,” she answered. 

“Not even going to see your family?” 

“The only family I have left is my father...and he will probably be a lot happier if I'm not around, so he can spend all day with one of his lovers who could easily be his daughter. But why do you ask?” 

“Well, I was thinking,” Jaime said, “how about going out for dinner?” 

“Dinner? You and me?” Brienne asked, apparently not quite believing what she was hearing. 

“Yes, you and me,” Jaime confirmed. 

“You've got to be joking...you don't even like Christmas!” Brienne said. “You're probably only suggesting that because you feel sorry for me...but believe me, I don't want you pitying me.”

Jaime realized that she couldn't believe that his intentions were good. Whoever had hurt her in the past and made her that distrustful deserved a punch in the face. “You stubborn woman...I feel sorry because my sister treated you like this, that is true...but I'm not asking you because I think nobody wants to spend time with you. I know that's not true; a lot of your colleagues would probably like to be your friends if you just let them. And it doesn't have to be about Christmas,” he explained. “You won't spend time with your father, and I'm not so keen on all the drama my family will without a doubt cause. And before ending up home alone and miserable and sad, we should do something together. And besides, I'd like to learn a lot more about you, Brienne. ”

Jaime hoped he could somehow convince her that he meant what he said. He was completely serious. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about Brienne that fascinated him. He hoped that she would give him a chance to find out.

And finally, Brienne smiled. It wasn't the sad smile from before. It was a small smile, but genuine, and Jaime liked how her astonishingly blue eyes lit up in that moment. “Well...I'll think about it. I'll let you know, sir.”

“Jaime...my name is Jaime.”


End file.
